The engineer at large

The number vi home applicationes Incorporatin microprocessor control continues to grow. One of the newest, form the home appliance division of Toshiba America Inc., Torrance, Calif., is the HCD-850 automatic drip coffee maker with built-in grinder. The unit's microprocessor controls the grinding time and the water flow over the ground
View full abstract»

Coming in Spectrum

In the August issue we discussed the peer review process as it is conducted by the various Transactions of the IEEE. In this column we will address the policies of those same publications regarding prior presentation or publication of papers that are submitted to them.
View full abstract»

Presents an evaluation of the equipment now available for turning the theory of electronic speech recognition into practice. The fulfilment of this goal seems much closer than it did because of the pace of advance in IC technology.
View full abstract»

The Reagan Administration's announced commitment to more than double military spending in the the next four years has rekindled interest in directed-energy weapons that can expand U.S. military power into outer space. Such weapons would use either laser beams or streams of charged or neutral particles, such as electrons or protons, to shoot down missiles. Though most of the money and effort in dir...
View full abstract»

In the fall of 1978 a journalist in his early 30s, Tracy Kidder, went on a sailing trip with a crew of strangers, among them an engineer named Tom West. During a storm off Maine, Mr. Kidder learned that Mr. West was, as another of their crew put it, “a good man in a storm.” The harder the wind blew and the more dangerous the conditions, the happier and more competent Mr. West became; crisis appear...
View full abstract»

An engineer working on a project for an employer knows of a technical condition in the design that appears to be dangerous or morally reprehensible. Should the engineer speak out? When? To Whom?
View full abstract»